Abstract
The increasing rates of maternal incarceration has led the previous studies to address the mothers’ health demands, including palliative, prenatal, and reproductive care while in detention. Thus, this qualitative narrative study aimed to explore the experiences of incarcerated mothers on their maternal satisfaction during confinement. Nine (9) participants were purposely selected in this research, and data saturation was reached. These participants aged 28 to 43 years old are incarcerated mothers from BJMP Calamba City Jail – Female Dormitory, who have adopted, or biological children aged 17 or below. The researchers formulated an interview guide for the conducted semi-structured, face-to-face interview sessions. The data collected was analyzed through Riessman’s Narrative Analysis, presenting three (3) comprehensive methods: thematic, structural, and performance analysis. Results revealed that six (6) main themes emerged, which are as follows: challenges of maternal physical restrictions, strength of maternal love, an incarcerated mother’s redemption, mother’s experience of self-loathing, maternal role realization, and maternal identity crisis. It showed the recurring patterns of negative motherhood experiences, mothers’ effort to express affection, and the future plans once released, in the participants’ narrative construction. Results also demonstrated that incarcerated mothers exhibited both identical and distinct behaviors in expressing their experiences; some were reserved, while others were confident. Hence, this study is significant in crafting effective interventions and improving policies to deal with psychological well-being of incarcerated mothers while being away from their children.
